Mercedes F1 star reveals injury concern at Chinese Grand Prix

Formula 1 star Valtteri Bottas has joked that he's going to 'pull a muscle', after recording a hilarious video for Mercedes' social media pages.

Mercedes re-signed their former driver Bottas during the winter break as their reserve driver for 2025, and have been making use of his social media pull among fans.

At the Chinese GP, Bottas was explaining the concept of the sprint race, at the first sprint race weekend of the 2025 season.

The Finnish driver could be seen sprinting through the paddock on foot, getting more and more out of breath as he tried to read out Mercedes' full script on the sprint race concept.

Bottas' Mercedes social bloopers

Bottas has become known for his quirky, eccentric style on his personal social media profiles, regularly posting videos advertising products or simply displaying his many impressive off-track hobbies.

In the latest video for Mercedes' socials, Bottas can be heard beginning to go through his explanation of the race weekend format, saying: "Hi, this is Valtteri Bottas and this is F1 sprint explained."

"F1 sprint is a flat out race of 100km, about one third of the usual grand prix. There are six sprint weekends in F1 during 2025, including the first one starting here in China."

Mercedes decided to include Bottas' bloopers at the end of the video, including one where he called the session 'FP1', and another where he proclaimed: "I'm going to pull my muscle!"

Mercedes will be hoping the 35-year-old remains fit and well this weekend, with Bottas on hand in Shanghai to jump into the car in the event of an injury or illness to any of the team's main driver duo; George Russell or Kimi Antonelli.

Bottas previously drove with Mercedes between 2017 and 2021, claiming 10 victories and 58 podiums with the Silver Arrows.

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Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.

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